Khumbu Region (Everest Region) Trek: A Visual Celebration of the Highest Place on Earth
A visual celebration of the Khumbu Region (Everest Region) of Nepal… the highest place on earth and home to some of the kindest and strongest people you’ll every meet…
Table of Contents
Mission
My primary goal trekking the Khumbu Region of Nepal was to see Mount Everest with my own eyes, but as you’ll soon discover, that was but a small part of this privileged experience. From the first “Namaste!” I fell in love with this enchanting place defined by big nature and warm, beautiful, courageous people.
Dollars to Rupees: I wanted to have small Nepali bills for buying some snacks and things along the Everest trek, but didn’t realize it would cause me to empty the hotel safe and miss breakfast before catching the bus to Kathmandu airport for the flight to Lukla.
Welcome to Kathmandu, a vibrant mix of Hindu and Buddhist humanity nestled in a high-altitude valley in the center of Nepal and gateway to the Himalayas. Score a fistful of Rupees and prepare for sensory overload in a dusty maze of temples, prayer flags, mandalas, persistent touts, and more smiles than you can count. Namaste!
While the Buddhist and Hindu temple complexes in the Durbar Squares are quite beautiful, anyone who ventures beyond to the surrounding cobbled streets will be rewarded with a privileged glimpse at workday life and the beautiful people who live there. Let’s go!
Fly Kathmandu (5000 feet, ??? meters) to Lukla (9000 feet, ???? meters), then trek Lukla to Phakding (8400 feet).
The weather was looking ominous, but the pilots and ground crews did not seem concerned at all.
Yikes! Not what you want to see before flying to Lukla!
Cozy and unpressurized!
Looking North, first glimpse of the high Himalayas!
Upon arrival, each planeload of trekkers and cargo is met with throngs of porters looking for work.
Lukla is the gateway to treks in the Everest Region.
Altitude sickness perhaps? (Thank you, photographer Sherry, for your exquisite timing!)
History Channel’s “most dangerous airport in the world”… Takeoff 240 degrees heading, 12 degrees downhill, and only 1600 feet long… Yikes!
Stupa above the clouds.
Everest Region Map (Lukla bottom, Phakding top)
The official start of our trek.. the memorial gate just North of Lukla. (The gate really is that crooked)
Footbridge destroyed by recent earthquake (the detour was a bushwhack on some slippery and rugged terrain, too treacherous for any picture taking)
Dealing with the vertical terrain is a fact of life here.
There are no roads or vehicles here. The only way that building materials and supplies get into the high country is on the backs of human beings or beasts of burden.
Trek Phakding (8,400 feet/2,610 meters) to Namche (11,000 feet/3,440 meters)…
Everest Region Map (Phakding bottom, Namche top, National Park entrance middle)
Everest Region Trekking Permit
Our hard working and friendly lead jopke (kind of like yaks) driver
Just another day at the office!
Porter wannabe… Carrying a portion of our kitchen for a few steps.
The scary high and long bridge before the steep ascent to Namche
Crossing the high bridge.
This nice young man lost his pack and had no food or water (He walked all the way from Lukla to Namche that day!)
Privileged encounter with a Himalayan Mountain Goat!
Namche farming terraces
Waiting to play the winner… When I said hello asked if I could play, they immediately brought out the chair and insisted that I have a seat. By the way, these guys really know how to play! As you can see it was pretty cold. The rain moved in shortly after this, so we seamlessly moved the game into the bank across the street. The bank is a counter with an adding machine and the street is two yak butts wide. There I was received with the genuine smiles and hot tea served in the most exquisite tea set..
About to play and lose to the champion of Namche.
The weather here can change dramatically and in a heartbeat. This cloud bank rolled in like a tsunami in a matter of minutes…
Acclimatization hike Namche (3440 m) to Syangboche (3780 m) and Everest View Hotel.
Formula for acclimatization: climb high, sleep low.
From Namche, just after sunrise.
Namche Bazaar lives up to its name as a major trading crossroads.
Namche from above.
Syangboche Airstrip (not to be confused with an airport)
The Alpine meadows are home to grazing livestock….
…and the most delicate vegetation.
Midday, looking Northeast from the Everest View Hotel (The distinctive profile of Ama Dablam is on the right). Alas, we were disappointed that we did not see Mount Everest, shrouded in the mass of clouds on the left. Hopefully tomorrow!
Everest Region Map (Tengboche right, Khumjung center)
My very first view of Mount Everest from Tengboche. Everest is the pyramid on the left. By the way, the Nepali name for the highest mountain in the world is Sagarmatha and the Tibetan/Sherpa name is Chomolungma.
Yaks, some colorful, hard-working characters.
Unfortunately, this outhouse drains right into the river.
Just one of many reminders of how dangerous these mountains can be.
The Hillary School in Khumjung.
Lovism–symbol for a “non-religion” called Heavenly Path. How can anyone argue against LOVE-ism as something self-evident and worth embracing in the most general sense?
Rainbow upon arrival in Khumjung.
Lovely artwork by Pemba Yangjee Sherpa
Prayers
Getting hugged by a huge Mani Stone.
Carrie scores some Pringles! (Courtesy of all those porters and beasts doing the heavy lifting)
An absolutely insane load!!!
Tengboche Stupa
Women Sherpas, too, brave the high peaks and have lost their lives here.
Our Sherpa guides were awesome, courageously braving the elements to ensure everyone’s safety!
Exquisitely detailed and vibrant rock art!
Spam never tasted so good! With flat bread, potatoes, yak cheese, carrots, beans, and dal bhat. Dal bhat (rice with lentil soup) is such a staple that the joke is that you have dal bhat for lunch and bhat dal for supper!)
Yak dung powered boot drier.
Yak dung hand warmer.
A piece of mountaineering history: artifacts from the successful Hillary-Tensing expedition.
Almost everywhere you look, vibrant prayer flags are fluttering in the wind!
These porters are absolute bad asses!
The trails in the Himalayas are “patrolled” by stray dogs–all mutts, the most beautiful, sweet, gentle mutts. This guy followed me for five miles… stopping when I stopped… and going when I went… like a furry guardian angel… and I didn’t feed him a thing!
It’s a wide world, as Cat Stevens once crooned, and some truly understand its essence and how to capture it. I take pictures. You capture the spirit of a people and their culture.
Thanks so much for appreciating the visual storytelling, Michael. That really means a lot coming from a writer of your caliber. All the best to you in words and life.
Wow, Frank, that was a trip up memory lane! Thank you so much for sharing your journey! It brought up so many memories of that area. In 1982 I trekked with a group from Lukla to Tengboche and back. A few weeks later I returned, first by bus and then by hitching on a truck delivering 40kg bags of USAID rice, as far as the end of the road at Jiri (or was it Junbesi?). From there we walked (me and my “little brother” Mohan) a week or so to reach Lukla, Namche, Khumjung, then northeast to the summer grazing settlement at Gokyo. I still sometimes have a twinge of regret for the jar of jam I didn’t buy in Namche; I dreamed about eating jam for days and days afterwards! Swiss-style yak cheese toasted on chapatti, though: I’d eat some right now!
Wow, Teresa! Thanks for sharing your special memories of this magical place and wonderful people… from an era when it wasn’t quite as easy as it is to travel there today. All the best to you in travels and life!
Such amazing photos, Frank!!! And those mountains look so gorgeous!! You are braver than I, as I wouldn’t have made it past the first bridge!! Thanks so much for sharing these really wonderful photos and experiences!!
Ha! Well, you did it, Frank, and that is quite an accomplishment!! I might have had the courage in my earlier years to maybe, just maybe, attempt the bridges and heights (when I used to love heights), but sometime in my 40’s I developed a fear of heights, and now just looking at them gives me the heebie jeebies! Ha! But I still enjoy seeing the beauty in pictures, and am thankful to those, like yourself, who permit us to enjoy them through their eyes and experiences!! Hugs, my friend! Preparing now to get buried is snow in MA this weekend! I’ll imagine I am in the Himalayas! (Smile)
Thanks Frank. Great question! I actually don’t think there was a triggering event, that I can recall. Strangely, my mother also went through a similar experience with heights later in life, so perhaps it is in the genes! (smile) Enjoy the better weather there in Albuquerque! We’ll have lots of snow to share if you are missing seeing any! Ha! Warm hug back!
Thanks for checking in, Gerald. I’ve been truly blessed with the time and means to travel the world and to be gifted so many priceless life lessons I could have learned no other way. All the best, old friend.
An impressive account Frank. 👍🏻
Merci beaucoup, Brian. Another privileged experience that was instrumental in forging who I am today.
I always hope that I do for a place and her people at least as much as a place and her people do for me.
Sante!
I’m so glad that when I finally visit these parts of our world I get to do it through your eyes. Thank you for providing these priceless experiences.
Thanks so much for joining me, Ana, and for the most kind words of appreciation.
It’s a wide world, as Cat Stevens once crooned, and some truly understand its essence and how to capture it. I take pictures. You capture the spirit of a people and their culture.
Thanks so much for appreciating the visual storytelling, Michael. That really means a lot coming from a writer of your caliber. All the best to you in words and life.
Wow, Frank, that was a trip up memory lane! Thank you so much for sharing your journey! It brought up so many memories of that area. In 1982 I trekked with a group from Lukla to Tengboche and back. A few weeks later I returned, first by bus and then by hitching on a truck delivering 40kg bags of USAID rice, as far as the end of the road at Jiri (or was it Junbesi?). From there we walked (me and my “little brother” Mohan) a week or so to reach Lukla, Namche, Khumjung, then northeast to the summer grazing settlement at Gokyo. I still sometimes have a twinge of regret for the jar of jam I didn’t buy in Namche; I dreamed about eating jam for days and days afterwards! Swiss-style yak cheese toasted on chapatti, though: I’d eat some right now!
Wow, Teresa! Thanks for sharing your special memories of this magical place and wonderful people… from an era when it wasn’t quite as easy as it is to travel there today. All the best to you in travels and life!
Such amazing photos, Frank!!! And those mountains look so gorgeous!! You are braver than I, as I wouldn’t have made it past the first bridge!! Thanks so much for sharing these really wonderful photos and experiences!!
Thanks for the most kind words of appreciation, Anita. Between us girls, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle the Namche Bridge until I got there!
Ha! Well, you did it, Frank, and that is quite an accomplishment!! I might have had the courage in my earlier years to maybe, just maybe, attempt the bridges and heights (when I used to love heights), but sometime in my 40’s I developed a fear of heights, and now just looking at them gives me the heebie jeebies! Ha! But I still enjoy seeing the beauty in pictures, and am thankful to those, like yourself, who permit us to enjoy them through their eyes and experiences!! Hugs, my friend! Preparing now to get buried is snow in MA this weekend! I’ll imagine I am in the Himalayas! (Smile)
Thanks for sharing your experience with an evolving fear of heights. Not an irrational one in the least. Was there a triggering event?
And thanks again for the kind words of appreciation.
Speaking of weather, light rain here in Albuquerque… not quite cold enough for snow… shipping lots of moisture East to MA. Warm hug!
Thanks Frank. Great question! I actually don’t think there was a triggering event, that I can recall. Strangely, my mother also went through a similar experience with heights later in life, so perhaps it is in the genes! (smile) Enjoy the better weather there in Albuquerque! We’ll have lots of snow to share if you are missing seeing any! Ha! Warm hug back!
Staggering and beautiful. You must have traveled all the world! Congrats and thanks!
Thanks for checking in, Gerald. I’ve been truly blessed with the time and means to travel the world and to be gifted so many priceless life lessons I could have learned no other way. All the best, old friend.